Since encountering the first wolf-headed puppet, the group continued to run into these constructs one after another. However, under the freakishly defensive power of Barbarian Beard’s Vajra Art, these mechanical puppets were smashed to pieces as if they were made of mud, rendering assistance from Ji Yin and the robed elder completely unnecessary.
Han Li unceremoniously collected the remains of every destroyed puppet.
This behavior naturally drew sidelong glances from Wu Chou and Xuan Gu for quite some time.
Barbarian Beard and the others, however, turned a blind eye and allowed Han Li to continue his actions without interference.
It was clear that Wan Tianming and his group were not taking the same route as Han Li’s party. Seeing how calm Ji Yin and the others appeared, Han Li deduced that these old demons must have some way of tracking the opposing group’s general whereabouts, which explained their lack of urgency.
After encountering the puppet guards, Ji Yin and the others no longer proceeded in a straight line but began taking winding, circuitous paths.
One thing puzzled Han Li, though.
He couldn’t figure out what basis Ji Yin and the others were using to navigate. To Han Li, every intersection looked identical, yet the three Nascent Soul-stage old monsters leading the way would unhesitatingly choose left at one junction and right at the next, showing no signs of doubt and appearing utterly confident.
If it were only Ji Yin and the robed elder behaving this way, Han Li wouldn’t have found it strange. After all, both had been to this inner hall before and might have exceptional memories of the path they took last time.
But Barbarian Beard was clearly here for the first time, yet he strode confidently at the forefront. Ji Yin and the elder followed behind without objection, which left Han Li somewhat perplexed!
A thought occurred to Han Li, and he began secretly scrutinizing each intersection for differences or hidden markers along the way.
But after passing several junctions, his efforts proved futile, and he found nothing.
Reluctantly, Han Li gave up.
Along the way, Barbarian Beard single-handedly destroyed seven or eight wolf-headed puppets, eventually leading the group to a small teleportation formation.
The formation was situated right in the middle of a crossroads, emitting a faint, shimmering glow.
“Going up from here will take us to the second level. I wonder what methods Wan Tianming and those righteous path fellows used to get ahead of us,” the robed elder grumbled upon seeing the teleportation formation, though a slight smile still played on his lips.
“Hmph! Let’s go. So what if they’re ahead? The Void Cauldron isn’t something easily obtained,” Barbarian Beard snorted dismissively.
With that, he swaggered into the teleportation formation first.
Green Robe Scholar smiled faintly at this.
After Barbarian Beard teleported away, he and Ji Yin did not immediately follow. Instead, they exchanged a glance, then turned meaningful looks toward Han Li.
A chill ran down Han Li’s spine.
Under their gaze, he had no choice but to steel himself and step into the teleportation formation as well, vanishing in a flash of white light.
When Han Li regained his footing and looked around, he was taken aback.
The same crossroads, the same bluestone passageways—if not for Barbarian Beard standing ahead with his hands clasped behind his back, Han Li would have almost thought his teleportation had failed.
Just as Han Li was marveling at this, white light flashed repeatedly behind him, and Ji Yin and the others teleported over one after another.
“What methods did those righteous path fellows use? How did they move so fast? We’ve completely lost track of them now,” Ji Yin muttered with a grimace as soon as he appeared, scanning their surroundings.
“Forget it! Those righteous path people suddenly proposed a truce outside—I thought it was strange back then! Now it seems they had already planned to scheme against us. But letting them retrieve the treasure first might be for the best. After all, just relying on Wan Tianming’s Golden Silk Worms to extract the Void Cauldron is wishful thinking, in my opinion. If they really get lucky and retrieve the treasure, we can always ambush them and snatch it later,” Green Robe Scholar said coldly from behind Ji Yin, a glint of ruthlessness in his eyes.
“Brother Green makes a valid point! But we shouldn’t delay too long either; we need to pick up the pace,” Ji Yin nodded, his expression easing slightly in agreement.
“Brother Barbarian, be careful! The snake guard puppets on this level are quite troublesome. Fellow Daoist Wu and I will assist you together. This will save us some energy and time, preventing those righteous path fellows from taking advantage when we reach the fifth level,” the elder added solemnly, addressing Barbarian Beard.
“Snake guard puppets? Sounds somewhat interesting! Suit yourselves,” Barbarian Beard replied indifferently.
Without further delay, the demonic path group continued onward.
Before long, Han Li noticed the differences between the second and first levels.
Crossroads appeared noticeably less frequently than on the first level, with longer intervals between them. Additionally, more formidable restrictions and traps began to appear along the way.
While these posed no real danger to experts like Barbarian Beard and Ji Yin, some were absolutely lethal to Core Formation cultivators. Han Li, following behind them, broke out in a cold sweat.
Without a doubt, if he had ventured into the inner hall’s second level alone, he would have likely lost his life to these restrictions and traps.
When the group reached the fifth intersection on the second level, they finally encountered the “snake guard puppets” the elder had mentioned.
The appearance of these puppets was utterly repulsive.
They had two slender, greenish-red snake heads, four arms attached to the front and back of their bodies, and were covered in jet-black scales.
The front two hands held short blue halberds, while the rear two gripped shiny black whips covered in sharp barbs, exuding a pale gray aura.
As soon as one of these puppets spotted Barbarian Beard’s group, it shot toward them like a black streak without a sound, moving with astonishing agility.
Barbarian Beard let out a wild laugh, activating his Vajra Art to meet the charge head-on.
What happened next astonished Han Li. The snake demon puppet moved with ghostly speed, its blue bronze halberds and flexible whips combining hardness and softness. Though overwhelmed by Barbarian Beard’s relentless, defense-ignoring assault, it managed to barely protect its vital points, preventing the unarmed Barbarian Beard from securing a quick victory.
The blue bronze halberds, made of some unknown material, only deformed slightly after clashing with Barbarian Beard’s golden hands and were not severed.
This drew a flicker of surprise from Barbarian Beard!
At that moment, Ji Yin and Green Robe Scholar finally made their move.
Ji Yin employed the very Sky Corpse Fire that Han Li had once dreaded.
A small black fireball materialized in his hand, then shot out as a thin black streak.
The snake demon puppet, busy fending off Barbarian Beard’s Vajra Art, had no chance to dodge. Instantly, one of its arms holding a short halberd was engulfed in black flames and vanished.
On the other side, Green Robe Scholar opened his mouth, and a torrent of green light threads surged forth, shooting toward the puppet in a flash.
These green threads eerily encircled the puppet, followed immediately by a dense series of faint cracking sounds.
The snake demon puppet staggered, thrown off balance.
Seizing the opportunity, a ferocious glint flashed in Barbarian Beard’s eyes. He crossed his hands, and a blinding golden light erupted. With a low roar, he punched through the puppet’s chest and forcefully pulled out a green-glowing gem.
The snake demon puppet immediately lost all mobility, wobbled, and collapsed into a heap on the ground.
Barbarian Beard glanced at the now-inert puppet on the ground, then at the green stone in his hand. A fierce expression crossed his face, and he exerted force with his five fingers, intending to crush the gem to dust.
But when he opened his golden fist after clenching it, the gem remained intact, still glowing green.
Even someone as audacious as Barbarian Beard couldn’t help but change expression at this.
After all, his hands, infused with the power of the Vajra Art, could easily twist and deform even spiritual treasures, let alone a slightly hard gem. Lower-quality treasures might even shatter on the spot.
As Barbarian Beard stared in disbelief, Green Robe Scholar approached with a smile and said, “Brother Barbarian, no need to be surprised! These strange stones have been taken back for study before. Although incredibly hard and indestructible, they can’t be smelted or integrated into treasures or magical instruments. Unless those ancient cultivators were reborn, these things are pretty much just for looking at. Even sects that specialize in puppet-making don’t understand how these stones are used in the puppets.”
“Things from ancient cultivators are indeed bizarre! Kid, since you seem to like these scraps so much, you can have it!” Barbarian Beard, perhaps to cover his earlier embarrassment, tossed the stone toward Han Li with a look of annoyance.
Han Li, caught off guard, instinctively caught it.
Realizing what had happened, he silently stored it in his storage pouch without a word.
Then, his eyes sweeping over the scene, he unceremoniously stepped forward and, as usual, collected the remains of the snake demon puppet.
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